# Beyond Relations: A Case for Elevating to the Entity-Relationship Abstraction

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03536 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.03536/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 May 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Vextra: A Unified Middleware Abstraction for Heterogeneous Vector Database Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.06727/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Spurred by a number of recent trends, we make the case that the relational database systems should urgently move beyond supporting the basic object-relational model and instead embrace a more abstract data model, specifically, the entity-relationship model. We argue that the current RDBMSs don't inherently support sufficient "logical" data independence, and that is relegating the database systems to the role of a backend storage system, away from where significant innovation is both happening and is still needed. We present the design of a prototype system (ErbiumDB) that we are building to explore these issues, and discuss some of the key research challenges.